Unifying the online presence Alberta's fifth largest school board

Over the last four years Box Clever has worked with EIPS to launch websites for all 42 schools in the division, a new corporate website, a new HR website system, online payments for Student Transportation and StaffConnect. Watch the video below to hear what EIPS' Superintendent, Director of Communications and Communications Officer have to say about the projects and about Box Clever.

The Look of Elk Island Public Schools

“Box Clever was really interested in meeting our needs to ensure that what we got was what we wanted. I would strongly encourage others to use Box Clever.”

 

• Bruce Beliveau
• Superintendent
• Elk Island Public Schools

In 2007, Elk Island Public Schools selected Box Clever to design and develop a new corporate website and school website for each one of their 42 schools. As the fifth largest school division in Alberta - with 16,350 students and more than 2,000 staff members - this was a big task! Using WebGuide - our in-house Content Management System - we produced an integrated website framework for EIPS that powers all of their school websites from a single sign-on. And because the schools' websites are now integrated with the new corporate website, information can be passed back and forth between the sites.

At Box Clever, we have built a strong relationship with the great people at EIPS, and are continually working with them to increase their websites' features, both internally and externally.

Corporate Website

Elk Island Corporate Site
www.eips.ca

At EIPS, the new corporate website had three goals: to come up with a better way to organize the hundreds of pages and documents, to give the website a much-needed facelift, and to build a powerful Human Resources section. Mission accomplished. Using the new sitemap, visitors can now browse through the site quickly and easily, finding the information they're looking for. And for parents with children in different EIPS schools, they can now jump to any other school website from the corporate website.

We also featured the most frequently accessed content on the home page, making it even easier to find! How'd we do it? For two months, we analyzed the website and tracked the visitor information, bringing to the forefront what was most important to those looking for it!

The Human Resources Section

For two years, we rolled out several phases of the new HR section, until we got to the place where the old hiring system was completely replaced. Gone are the days of mailing, faxing, photocopying and filing. Now, each job opportunity and applicant within EIPS are handled completely electronically, and completely within WebGuide. Now, potential applicants sign up for an account and upload all of their necessary documents. Then, HR staff compile short lists and send potential applicants to the appropriate hiring manager...all within WebGuide.

Teachers looking for a job can sign up for email alerts and find out as soon as a new position is posted. The entire hiring process is now online: from posting the job to receiving applicants and ultimately hiring online.

School Websites

When it comes to school website design, it's not just all about the looks. Parents, teachers, and students need to be able to exchange information, and this can be difficult for schools to maintain. At Box Clever, we created a school website system that's standardized throughout the whole school district, ensuring everyone gets the information that they need online - and some peace of mind for school administration.

Consistent and Concise 

Before launching the WebGuide system, schools within the division were on their own when it came to launching a website. Some schools hired a professional web design company, some had their computer teachers build one, some had parent volunteers, some had students in charge. Some of the websites worked, some didn't, and most were outdated. Now each school has the same great WebGuide powered website. They share the same features and tools, and best of all, each website is properly branded as part of Elk Island Public Schools. Parents with children at different schools know where to find information on each website and can expect timely information wherever they look.

Training

In the past, it was a huge headache for school divisions to train their staff on website software. The cure? WebGuide - the unified, division-wide system which equipped many schools with fully-populated websites that were ready to launch after only a half-day training session! 

The trained lead teachers then returned to their schools and trained the rest of their staff. With nearly every teacher trained on the same system division-wide, schools aren't left high and dry when the teacher in charge of the website is transferred, and teachers don't need to learn a new system when they arrive at a new school.

Updating school websites was a technological hurdle in the past. But now with WebGuide, many people have the ability to use this easy system and keep it up to date.

Design

Each school had the choice of 12 website templates and the option of customizing those templates, either by hiring Box Clever to design a custom template, or by having students or staff design a new banner for their website. If a school wants to change their template, it's as easy as logging into WebGuide and selecting a new one. The site is automatically switched to the new template...no information has to be re-entered, no additional training, no expense.

Some of the Features

“I am extremely proud personally of our website. Anyone thinking about partnering with Box Clever should know that they are very professional and highly responsive. Box Clever has been very helpful giving suggestions and offering support. They are always available when we need them.”

 

• Tanya Orr
• Director of Communications
• Elk Island Public Schools

Flexible Navigation
Schools can easily add and delete pages.

Photo Galleries
The most visited pages on every school website, the photo galleries proudly display real student photos, not stock photos.

eTeachers
Teachers are given their own area on the website where they can add their own pages. The ability to post homework, assignments and permission forms makes eTeachers the perfect communication tool for parents, teachers, and students!

Bus Status
Each school website displays the current status of EIPS' buses - all controlled by Central Office. With one click, all 40 websites can be updated.

Documents
Schools can upload and manage their documents. Many schools have now stopped printing their newsletters and permissions forms. This means time and money are saved.

What else is there?
School divisions on WebGuide also have the option of Division-Wide Emergency notices and Athletics sections! 

StaffConnect

In 2010, Elk Island also launched StaffConnect, Box Clever's internal communication solution for school divisions. Take a look at the video below to hear what they think of it! You can learn more about StaffConnect by visiting www.staffconnect.ca.

Continuing Education Website

Next Step Continuing Education
www.eipscontinuinged.ca

Shortly after completing the new www.eips.ca Box Clever was hired to produce a new website for the EIPS Continuing Education program. The program offers credit courses, Diploma exam preparation courses and night classes. The site, also powered by WebGuide, handles online registration and payments and was designed to match the new EIPS corporate website but with a different colour scheme. WebGuide tracks all student profiles and registration, runs class attendance lists, reconciliations, mailing labels and more.